moonlet
1
7.7
- noun
- /ˈmuːnˌlɛt/
- Specialized
:
satélite
- The mass of the ring and moonlets circling New Terra was almost exactly the mass of Earth's Luna.
- moonlets in orbit
- tiny moonlets
- small moonlet
So just like the planets grew by little planets colliding, the moon grew by little moonlets colliding as well.
- So just like the planets grew by little planets colliding, the moon grew by little moonlets colliding as well.
Examples
-
" We have cataloged forty-seven previously undiscovered moonlets in orbit around Bel-Major and have already confirmed the orbits of fifteen of them.
Fiction book (1992) -
So you have a, you know, again, central object, which is the largest and then you have two moonlets orbiting it.
-
We can actually see little moonlets interacting with Saturn's rings in just that same way.
-
So just like the planets grew by little planets colliding, the moon grew by little moonlets colliding as well.
-
Astronomers discovered a tiny moonlet embedded in the rings of Saturn.
-
The spacecraft captured images of several small moonlets orbiting the giant planet.
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Scientists believe that small moonlets may contribute to the structure of asteroid belts.
Synonyms
145
3.9
A natural body that moves around a planet or star, like the Moon
5
4.4
A natural object in space like a star or planet that you can see in the sky
How Big
581
1.0
- Specialized
1
7.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word moonlet is easy to remember: it combines moon and -let, where moon is the familiar object in the sky and -let means 'small', as in piglet or booklet. So a moonlet is a 'small' moon, a very small natural satellite often found in a planet's rings.